Electronic thermometers have become useful tools in both human and veterinary medicine. These thermometers usually include a probe member which is inserted into a patient for taking temperatures. This probe member has been designed to be a permanent component of the electronic system making up the thermometer.
Many of these thermometer probes are now being used with disposable probe covers. The purpose of these probe covers is to bacteriologically isolate the probe from the patient while providing a thermal path for body temperature to be sensed by the probe. The use of a disposable probe cover readily facilitates the availability of a sanitary probe and probe cover for use on each new patient while eliminating the necessity for sterilizing the probe after each use.
Probe covers have been designed to conform to the shape of the probe with which they are used. For the most part probe shafts are cylindrically shaped, and as such, probe covers have cylindrical configurations. These cylindrical configurations may include either straight walls or tapered walls or walls which taper to varying diameters through various sections.
For many applications, it is quite desirable to have a probe cover of rigid or semi-rigid material. Such a probe cover is usually constructed of a thermoplastic substance. These thermoplastic probe covers provide sufficiently rigid structures to protect the delicate probe components of the electronic thermometer while maintaining sufficient flexibility to accommodate patient comfort.
Some thermoplastic probe covers of this type have had a metal tip forming the sensing end thereof and providing an enhanced thermal path for body heat to pass to the electronic thermometer probe within. Such probe covers are taught by U.S. Pat. No. 3,929,018, U.S. Pat. No. 3,738,479, and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 218,851. A problem with these prior art probe covers, however, is that the metal tip may, given the right circumstances, part from the thermoplastic shaft when in use. If this occurs while the probe and cover are in a patient, the tip is left in the patient, creating a hazard. If a metal tip "pops-off" the thermoplastic shaft of the cover while not in the patient, it could spring out as a projectile and create an additional hazard. An improved metal-tipped probe cover where the metal tip cannot pop-off is desirable.
An objective of this invention is to provide a metal-tipped thermoplastic electronic thermometer probe cover with the tip securely attached to a thermoplastic shaft.
A second objective is to provide such a probe cover wherein the metal tip is securely locked to the thermoplastic shaft material and wherein the tip cannot pull away from the thermoplastic shaft.
An even further objective is to provide such a probe cover wherein the metal tip is interlocked into the thermoplastic shaft material.